The present invention relates to the segmentation of anatomical structures and more particularly to the segmentation of structures within medical imaging data.
The identification of structures like tumors, the bladder, kidney, etc. is one of the most time consuming tasks in the workflow of the medical diagnostic workplace. One of the reasons is the difficulty in generalizing the steps necessary for the successful segmentation of these objects in medical imaging data.
Despite extensive research, the identification of these structures is still carried out by manual segmentation tools. Further, with the increasing resolution of the new generations of scanners, the segmentation time is expected to increase. This will lead to an even more substantial and time consuming process.
Each of these issues directly affects the quality of the measurements as well as the quality of the medical diagnosis and service provided to patients. The tedium of the present procedures can result in user fatigue as well as poor segmentation of the structures.
Accordingly, new and improved methods and systems for segmenting structures within imaging data are needed. In particular, it would be highly desirable to make available systems that reduce the amount of time and effort that medical personnel must exert to segment structures in medical imaging data.